Volume 1, Issue 3

After 3 years of effort and over 22,000 hours, Chantry Island’s Lighthouse Keeper’s House returned to life. Over 250 volunteers and 300 donors have contributed time and money. It has been a great effort by the entire community including local government agencies. We have worked together successfully

The Broader Picture: How have we done relative to our original objectives?

Restoration: Complete on time.

Environmental Clean-up: First ever done on Chantry Island. Tons of waste removed and taken to proper dump sites.

Tourism: Great acceptance of limited special tours.

Science: First GPS survey. Sifting of soil and planting of vegetation accomplished too..

Education: Many school sessions given with full hour presentations. Adult education program planned for next year.

Economic Impact on the Community: Hundreds of house signs show the Lighthouse and Island. 34 businesses in the community use the Lighthouse as part of their logo or letterhead. Many of the High Street Stores have Lighthouse products. Port Elgin has had a very successful afghan produced by Ports Emporium.

Awareness: Over 42 hour long presentations in the community and beyond have been given. 3 TV programs with one 12 minute program going nation wide featuring Chantry Island. Royal Ontario Museum Exhibit, 400,000 placemats printed and distributed and over 10 newspaper articles were featured this year.

Scope: The group of volunteers widened significantly this year bringing in skills that we did not have in prior years. What a treat is was to work with all the new people.

Gardens: The historic gardens and more have been re-planted by a few volunteers. These creative people have made us feel we can win a garden award in the future. Herbs, vegetables and flowers grew in abundance due to the work of the very few. Many of these gardens were planted where the Keepers originally placed them. A privy was installed that produces biodegradable waste, also.

National Attention: Because of the finding of the shipwrecks and the restoration, the town further recognizes its value as a destination of high quality.

Next Year’s Plans:

Fund Raising: We need to raise an additional $50,000 to begin to establish our endowment. We have much to do this year. Our expenses continue and we need to become self sufficient. Make a tax free donation. Don’t forget us!

Donor Recognition: We now have full recognition on the Internet. We will establish names in Pioneer Park also.

Adult Education Program: We will establish the Chantry Island Institute with programs on history, geology, light, the literature of the “Inland Sea”, birding, art and the ecology of the lake.

Information placards: We will have these on each floor of the Lighthouse.

Support for Business: This will continue with retailers, B&Bs and the museum and Art School.

Branding: We want to create a license agreement in order to protect the Chantry Island image and help secure it for the business community in Southampton and Saugeen Shores.

Tours: The Lighthouse Tours now include all of Bruce County and some of Grey. The tour members are Point Clark, Kincardine, Chantry, Cove Island, Cabot Head, Lions Head and others.

Did You Know?

• The most important and toughest part of a project comes when you first introduce it to the public. You find out you are only half done.
• The building of the dock was the most costly part of the restoration.
• Chantry Island is the most important bird sanctuary south of James Bay.
• There are 10,000 mating pairs of birds on Chantry in the spring.
• We restrict access to the Island for environmental reasons.

Chantry Island Songfest 2001

On March 31st, 2001 a group of local talent sang and performed in Southampton’s historic Town Hall. There were 33 performances and 16 of them were original compositions done by local composers. The event was televised by Sautel Cable and it ran six times over the next few months and was by Sautel’s Scott Acton’s account the most popular special ever. After the event we produced a music CD that is for sale around Southampton for $15. Please make sure to pick one up soon. They make wonderful presents. The audience and performers were so impressed with the evening that we are planning another songfest in the spring of 2002.

Opening Ceremony

On August 11 we officially opened the restoration with a ceremony in Pioneer Park. It was wonderful to see the relatives of former Lighthouse Keepers see the results. The Knectel family gathered on the Island for pictures for the first time in 62 years. Even the first Lighthouse Keeper was represented by family members. There was music and a sailing regatta too. The Union Jack, Chantry Island Flag and Canada’s Flag were raised. The latter for the first time on the Island. A Piper played nostalgic tunes and the visitors toured the Island. Many tears were shed.

The survey of Chantry Island for the purposes of building a Lighthouse was conducted by the engineer A. G. Robinson. Mr. Robinson sent diary notes back to his supervisor telling him of the daily events. He was diligent and detailed in his accounts. When he first came to Chantry Island he did some measurements. He found the Island to be “39 chains long, but very low and narrow covered with a stunted growth of timber”. 39 chains would equal 2574 feet or almost 1/2 mile. We do not know the water level at that time, but the size of the Island has changed from time to time due to lake levels and the positioning of man made groynes. We need to see the Island in its long history rather than over a few years. Arial pictures taken in 1985 show the Island greatly reduced by the severe high water that killed many of the trees in a three year period. Our work over the last few summers has shown that the soil is very rich and fertile and can grow anything without trouble as our gardens show. We recovered the topsoil by screening it. It is a rich and fertile loam considered the best for growing things. The elephant grass on the western side is evidence of that. A cultural botanist says Chantry is a wonderland of plant life.

Selecting a single defining moment in a project consisting of 22,000 hours is difficult, but the construction of the time capsule on Chantry Island will be remembered. A deep chamber, near the Lighthouse was dug in readiness for the mementos that would come from the community. Children’s books, a CD, a camera and film, notes and pictures… a collection of everyday items that those in the future might wonder about those that had chosen them in the past. Once placed inside the two boxes and sealed, it was then a matter of choosing a most suitable, immovable sentry to stand guard for 100 years. From the rubble known as the “Old Keeper’s Dock”, a mammoth boulder was selected. For 4 hours 8 men using all their strength and ingenuity, struggled to get the “Gypsy Stone” to her new home. Unlike the 400,000,000 year old dolomite and limestone used in the Lighthouse, the Gypsy is at least 1.2 Billion years old.. It was likely formed in the early stages of the earth’s development. On the “Wings of a Glacier” she had come to Chantry Island and would watch over her store of treasures beneath. Thank you to the volunteer who chose her and those that moved her to her historic spot in time. Just as our theme song says “We Were Here”, we have come to feel that we are leaving a legacy for the future and the world is somehow better. We were indeed here for a brief time.

March 16th: Chantry Island Songfest 2002.

June 30th Fish Fry Pioneer Park.

August 16th, 17th and 18th: Chantry Island Golf Tournament on Friday and Festival on Saturday and Sunday.